Gymnasium
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Gymnasium. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in German education, a classical school for boys. The name is derived from that of the Greek school for physical exercises. The gymnasium corresponds in a way to the English grammar school and to the American academy and high school . Boys only are admitted. The course covers nine years. Like our normal schools, the gymnasium is maintained largely, at least, at the expense of the state and is under state management. The courses of study in the gymnasia of a German state are all alike. Instructors, once appointed, hold their positions for life. These schools are not an extension of the grades. Boys intending to take a gymnasium course leave the graded schools at the age of eight or nine. In the gymnasium there are five or six hours of actual instruction daily. Quite frequently two, or even three, periods of an hour each are given to the same subject. During the course of a day's instruction a boy of nine may very possibly have three distinct exercises in Latin grammar. The official program of the Prussian gymnasium adopted in 1892 called for 252 units of work distributed as follows: Religion, 19; German, 26; Latin, 62; Greek, 36; French, 19; history and geography, 26; mathematics, 34; science, 18; penmanship and drawing, 12. Nearly three-fifths of the entire course is devoted to languages. Great proficiency is acquired in Latin. The students of the graduating class are expected to turn William Tell, for instance, into Latin prose without difficulty. The course differs from that in American schools in several respects. Instruction in each subject is prolonged throughout the entire course. Science is given two hours a week for nine years; history and geography, from two to four hours for the same time. Few textbooks are used, a large part of the instruction being oral. The students are required, however, to write up notebooks to an extent that would be considered burdensome by an American youth. Even in mathematics, discussions and demonstrations are furnished largely by the instructor. The course, when complete, reaches the Junior year of an American college. Upon receiving his certificate of graduation the student is free to enter any one of the famous universities of Germany. In addition to the gymnasium there are other schools of like standing that replace Greek by modern languages. Others again, Raelschulen, give neither Greek nor Latin. The time thus gained is given partly to science and partly to French, German, and English. A German school has but one course of study.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A place among the Greeks where all the public exercises were performed, and where not only dancers and wrestlers exhibited, but where poets and philosophers re peated their compositions. Hades or Ades. The god of hell among the Greeks; the same as the Pluto of the Latins. The word is often used for hell itself by the ancient poets and in modern writings. Hadrianus, P. Aelius. Usually called Hadrian, Roman emperor, A. D. 117-138, was born at Rome, A. D. 76. He enjoyed the favor of Plotina, the wife of Trajan, and mainly through her influence succeeded to the empire. The reign of Hadrian was one of the happiest periods in Roman history. His policy was to preserve peace with foreign nations, and to promote the welfare of the provinces. He erected many magnificent works in various parts of the empire, and more particularly at Athens . There are still extensive remains of his magnificent villa at Tibur, where numerous works of ancient art have been discovered. His mausoleum, which he built at Rome, forms the groundwork of the present castle of St. Angelo. 2026 Editor's Note: The word gymnasium derives from Greek γυμνός (gumnós) meaning 'naked' or 'nude', originally denoting a place for both physical and intellectual education of young men in Ancient Greece. While the intellectual meaning persisted in many European languages including German, Polish, and Russian, English and Spanish retained the sense of physical education. (Ed: BR 2026-06-10)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a public place or building where the Greek youths exercised themselves, fitted up with running and wrest wrestling grounds, baths, and rooms or halls for conversation and discussion. These were the favorite resorts of youth, and for this reason were frequented by teachers, especially philosophers. The three great gymnasia of Athens were the Academy, where Plato taught; the Lyceum, where Aristotle labored; and the In this connection it is Cynosarges. easy to understand the transference of the name to educational institutions. The German gymnasium is an upper school where instruction is carried on largely by means of the classical tongues, preparing its pupils for the university, and corresponding roughly to the grammar and public schools of England and the grammar and high schools of Scotland.